I've got pro tools 8 M powered, and my setup is just about perfect for me. I started with a delta 1010lt and protools7, and slowly added gear over the years. I've got ~12 years worth of projects saved in here. It all came crashing down about 4 weeks ago when protools just decided i don't have an Ilok anymore. The iLok manager also doesn't seem to see it, but my OS reports its there and functional, as do other OS's I've tried. I've tried just about everything I've found on these forums as well as general googling. I'm also seeing horror stories about not helping folks with older installs. It seems my last option is to send 50 bucks to ilok and hope a new ilok fixes my issue.

I really don't want to change my workflow, but I also don't want to spend 50 dollars needlessly. If i cant get a guarantee it'll work (so far i can't) it seems just a waste to spend 50 dollars on a crap shoot (old software and unsupported hardware with no drivers past win7). I've reached out locally to see if anyone had an ilok with a v8 license as that'd be a good test, but so far no luck. I'm not recording professionally but I still used this setup weekly for new arrangements, adding parts to buddies demo's, etc. If I have to replace this, I'll be starting from scratch. If i do that (new interface, etc.) there's almost no way I'm going back to avid, strictly because of the iLok partnership. I'm not a big player, but I have spent ~3-4k on their software and hardware over the years. It feels like I'm being punished for what IMO was a poor choice to partner with iLok.

As a software engineer I've never been a fan of iLok's methodology for software activation, but I see effects of poor engineering choices made daily, I'm not surprised it's still used. My hindsight glasses makes me wish I'd stopped by their booth in namm and at least asked the question this year.

Needless to say I'm disgruntled and slowly coming to accept I have to completely redo my setup. If anyone has any advice for me to get this working, I'm all ears. Otherwise I'll take my cup of "stop whining and move on." after all, it's only money right?

Just some random thoughts here:
1-after fighting with every manner of authorization there is, the ONLY system I like better than iLok is the Waves on-a-USB stick. Opinions vary
2-You're dealing with computer/software that is more than 10 years old That stuff doesn't last forever(and you would be mistaken to expect it to).
3-if its important(and I assume it is), then cover your ASSets. Buy the iLok insurance(ZDT) and have a spare iLok 2 or 3 on hand(consider that all of these expenses pale in comparison to the cost of outfitting even a basic analog studio).
4-re changing workflow; I get it. Old habits dies hard. Moving to a new DAW would be a serious PITA, for sure. But moving to the current version of PT is fairly painless and your old projects(assuming they are not in SD II file format) will open, minus some plugins.
5-A move into the present will yield tons of new features that you will love!!!
And you won't believe how powerful current computers are(I recently bought a used HP Z820 12 core, 3.5GHz, 64GB of RAM and SSD loaded with Win 10 Pro for $1200
6-last 2 cents on iLok, I've been using them since PT7, have owned maybe 10 of them and never had one fail, ever(but I STILL pay the annual ZDT coverage) I just spent 2 days cursing and wrestling with IK's authorizations and hated every minute of it(enough that I may drop all their stuff and move on without them)

1 - I'm interested in what auth you've tried. Considering iLok integration doesn't curb piracy (the only reason I can imagine they integrate with iLok) I don't understand the extra complexity. It's 1FA relying on a third party to secure what, exactly? I'm not able to defend that decision Hardware auth definitely has it's place, but I'm not seeing how this is it.
2 - we must write very different software (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19271569, flight firmware, etc) I remember shutting down a server that was an early software based pbx in the mid 2000's. It had been operating fine for 17 years, and had 1100 days of uptime when i shut it down. Performed all functions flawlessly, just needed to add more lines than it could handle.
3 - All my files are backed up, exporting the wav's into a new DAW isn't impossible, just un wanted. Is it important? not to anyone besides me. Is it worth th e current hassle? so far, no. a move to an open source DAW would likely have been quicker than the road I've taken. I also see a ton of stories where ZDT isn't enough though: https://www.reddit.com/r/audioengine..._stop_all_the/ anecdotally, avid (not ilok) jut got back to me 48 hours after I contacted them. I'd be laughed out of a job if I had SLA's like that.
4 - i think we think the same page here
5 - this is probably true, elastic time was the main reason for the move to PT8.
6 - I've owned one since PT7, and am assuming it's what failed (Os still see's and accesses it fine as far as i can tell). It's only been in three pc's it's whole life, an hasn't moved from this one since 2014. but somehow, still failed. forcing me to have backup's of third party hardware just to launch software I own, by every measure, is unreasonable. Not even my OS requires that. Certainly no mission critical software I've ever been a part of.

My card (delta 1010lt) doesn't have support beyond win7, in fact its the only reason I still have a win7 box. Avid has gone to a needless subscription model. It looks like there's drivers for linux. This isn't my job, and they've priced them selves out of being worthwhile softwarefor me. I appreciate your comments, but at this point I think I'll say so long avid.